Frampton V Santa Cruz Announcement

As he promised, Carl Frampton is making the move up to the hyper-competitive 126-pound division. And the undefeated former 122-pound champion is wasting no time diving into deep waters.

Five months after unifying and then relinquishing 122-pound world titles,Carl Frampton (22-0, 14 KOs) will take on 126-pound champion Leo Santa Cruz (32-0-1, 18 KOs) on July 30 in a clash of undefeated fighters at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).

While Frampton will be debuting at 126 pounds, Santa Cruz will be making the second defence of the world title he won August 29 when he defeated fellow Southern California Mexican-American Abner Mares by majority decision in an action-packed brawl. A former titleholder at 118 and 122 pounds, Santa Cruz followed the Mares victory with a fifth-round TKO of Kiko Martinez on February 27.

UK TV is yet to be announced but I would expect it to be on ITV or Sky Sports. ITV due to Carl’s last fight in the US being shown on the channel. Sky Sports due to boxing being shown live also on the 30th and would make a great double header.